Superior properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC), such as wide bandgap, high breakdown field and high thermal conductivity, have made it the frontrunner to replace Silicon for applications requiring high breakdown strength, mechanical and radiation hardness. Commercial SiC devices are already available, although their expected performance has not yet been realized due to a few problems related to device fabrication technologies, such as selective doping. This work explores non-traditional techniques for SiC doping (and selective doping in particular) based on previously unknown types of defect reactions in SiC and novel epitaxial growth techniques, which offer advantages over currently available technologies. Recent developments in SiC epitaxial growth techniques at MSU have enabled the growth of high quality SiC epitaxial layers at record low temperatures of 1,300°C. Lower growth temperatures have enabled highly doped epilayers for device applications. Prototypes of SiC PiN diodes fabricated, demonstrated low values of the series resistance associated with anodes grown by the low temperature epitaxial growth technique. At room temperature, 100 ìm-diameter diodes with a forward voltage of 3.75 V and 3.23V at 1,000 A/cm2 before and after annealing were achieved. The reverse breakdown voltage was more than 680 V on average, even without surface passivation or edge termination. Reduced growth temperatures also enabled the possibility of selective epitaxial growth (SEG) of SiC with traditional masks used in the SEG in Si technology. Previously, SEG of SiC was impossible without high temperature masks. Good quality, defect free, selectively grown 4H-SiC epilayers were obtained using SiO2 mask. Nitrogen doped selectively grown epilayers were also obtained, which were almost completely ohmic, indicating doping exceeding 1x1019 cm-3. Moreover, conductivity modulation via defect reactions in SiC has been reported as a part of this work for the first time. The approach is based on a new phenomenon in SiC, named Recombination Induced Passivation (RIP), which was observed when hydrogenated SiC epilayers were subjected to above bandgap optical excitation. Additional acceptor passivation, and thereby modification of the conductivity of the epilayer, was observed. Results of investigations of the RIP process are presented, and conductivity modulation techniques based on the RIP process are proposed.

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